Did The Chinese Discover America BEFORE Columbus?

中国人在哥伦布之前发现了美洲?

以下是外国网友的评论：

JD-yz4kr

What was not mentioned is that Columbus bought a map that purportedly showed the route to the land beyond the Atlantic Ocean. That's why Columbus was so confident he'll find land.  The map was supposedly a copy of a map from China, according to the person who sold it to him.

Also, when Zheng he returned from his last voyage, he was ordered to burn the fleet, burn the fleet historian's records, and execute the historian. If Zheng-He did reached the American continent, they were ordered never to speak of it, upon pain of death.

没有提到的是，哥伦布买了一张地图，据说地图上显示了通往大西洋彼岸大陆的路线。这就是为什么哥伦布那么自信他能找到新陆地。据将地图卖给他的人说，这张地图应该是中国地图的复制品。而且，当郑和最后一次远航归来时，他被命令烧毁船队，烧毁船队史家的记录，并处死史学家。如果郑和真的到达了美洲大陆，他们被命令永远不要提起这件事，否则就会被处死。

lhwong7906

Another thing worth noting is the fleet of Zheng He with 28000 men mostly military was vastly stronger than military of any countries along his route. However none of the countries were invaded or conquered, instead, diplomatic relations were established and he ferried diplomats through and fro on each of his voyage, diplomats bring along gifts to the emperor of China and the emperor also give them gifts in return. It is not in the culture of Chinese to conquer others and history have proven it. Modern day Western nations have demonize the Chinese and spread fear of their rise. The Chinese however will prove once again that they are not interested in conquest.

另一件值得注意的事情是，郑和的船队有28000人，大部分是军人，比他沿途任何国家的军队都强大得多。然而，他们没有侵略或征服任何一个国家，而是建立了外交关系，他在每次航行中都护送外交官往返，外交官带着礼物给中国皇帝，皇帝也给他们礼物作为回赠。中国人的文化中没有征服别人的习惯，历史已经证明了这一点。现代西方国家妖魔化中国人，散布对中国崛起的恐惧。然而，中国人将再次证明他们对征服他人不感兴趣。

guillotineblade999

Calling Zheng he china's Columbus is a crime. Columbus was an insane genocidal maniac. Who upto his death thought he was conquering Asia (for most of his rampage, he thought he was in China. Despite being repeately corrected.)

称郑和为中国的哥伦布是犯罪。哥伦布是一个疯狂的种族灭绝狂。他直到死前都认为他正在征服亚洲

Bladavia

I mean I have no clue but that's possible, we already know for sure that the Vikings also did it before Columbus. Even the Polynesians were already colonizing the Pacific islands thousands of years ago before anyone else figured out sailing. We know they went all the way to Hawaii, so why not the American West Coast. Our modern view of history was written primarily by European white guys, so there's probably some bias and missing information in there.

虽然我不知道，但这是有可能的，我们已经确定维京人在哥伦布之前。就连波利尼西亚人早在几千年前就已经在太平洋岛屿上殖民了，而其他人还没有学会航海。我们知道他们一路去了夏威夷，那为什么不去美国西海岸呢？我们现代的历史观主要是由欧洲白人写的，所以可能有一些偏见和缺失的信息。

honeynfred

Very interesting. I believe the Chinese also visited Northern Australia before the British.

很有趣。我相信中国人也在英国人之前去过北澳大利亚。

grandadmiralzaarin4962

Also if you want to get technical, the Vikings, Chinese and even potentially some Pacific Islanders all 'discovered' America before Columbus bumbled into the Caribbean

此外，如果你想从技术上讲，维京人、中国人甚至可能是一些太平洋岛民都在哥伦布误打误撞进入加勒比海之前“发现”了美洲

philiptan2051

From DNA investigation around the world it is proven that there is a tribe in the east of Africa who have DNA with chinese characteristics although they look African. They also have legends about people from the “Middle Kingdom” who came to east Africa. The stories tell also that Zheng He went around cape of good hope in the southern tip of Africa heading west which would land him at the American continent. As the purpose of Zheng He’s journeys was to find other “kingdoms” and asked for a tribute it is logical that the civilization in the American continent at that time did not impress him at all. The legend says that Zheng He reported that there was no other kingdom more powerful than the Middle Kingdom. This was the reason for the Qing dynasty to abandon their powerful navy after Zheng He’s death.

世界范围内的DNA调查证明，非洲东部有一个部落，尽管他们看起来像非洲人，但他们的DNA具有中国人的特征。他们也有关于从“中央王国”来到东非的人的传说。故事还说，郑和绕过非洲南端的好望角，向西航行，到达美洲大陆。由于郑和下西洋的目的是寻找其他“王国”并索取贡品，所以当时美洲大陆的文明并没有给他留下深刻的印象，这是合乎逻辑的。传说郑和报告，没有哪个国家比明朝更强大。这就是在郑和死后，清朝放弃强大海军的原因。

dyong888

I think the more accurate way to describe this is "who visited first" because clearly, the Native Americans were the first to settle there. Also the europeans have the habit of claiming far away lands as their own and that they "discovered" a land even when it has already been inhabited. The europeans have this bad habit of genociding the natives and then calling the land theirs.

我认为更准确的描述方式是“谁先去的”，因为很明显，美洲原住民是第一个在那里定居的人。此外，欧洲人有一个习惯，声称遥远的土地是他们自己的，他们“发现”了一块土地，即使那里已经有人居住了。欧洲人有个坏习惯，就是灭绝土著，然后说这块土地是他们的。

Justice37

Zheng He actually had recorded his voyages. However, the Ming dynasty was out of money for doing a lot of building work such as building the longest canal in the world, still the longest canal today, the forbidden city, the Great Wall and the largest navy in the world at the time that Zheng He commanded.  So after seven voyages, the Ming court decided to abolish the navy and burned the record because there was no things from all the other lands that China was interested and most people went on the voyages did not come back due shipwreck that of the over 20,000 people went only about 200 came back alive and it cost a lot money to build the ships.

郑和实际上记录了他的航行。然而，明朝做了很多建筑工程，比如建造了世界上最长的运河，今天仍然是最长的运河，紫禁城，长城和郑和指挥的当时世界上最大的海军。所以在七次航行之后，明朝决定废除海军并烧毁记录，因为其他国家没有中国感兴趣的东西，大多数出海的人由于海难而没有回来，在超过2万人中，只有大约200人活着回来，建造船只花费了很多钱。

kianyeelee9307

Ming Dynasty burnt all the books of voyages.... But you can still see the ancient shipyards in Quanzhou Fujian, the junks were at least 3x the size of columbus'

明朝烧毁了所有的航海书籍，但你仍然可以看到福建泉州的古代造船厂，这些帆船的大小至少是哥伦布的三倍

Vostadues

It might not be Zheng He, but the Chinese ancient classic "山海經" do content records of western Northern America coastal line, all then way from Alaska down to Mexco... That classic is more then 6000 - 8000 years old, it's not written by one person or group, but a continuous record of groups of explorers, the latest entire were done roughly around the age of warring states (475BCE - 221BCE).

可能不是郑和，但中国古代经典著作《山海经》确实有内容记录了北美西部的海岸线，从阿拉斯加一直到墨西哥……这部经典有6000 - 8000多年的历史，它不是由一个人或一个团体写的，而是由探险者团体连续记录的，最新的完整版本大约是在战国时代(公元前475年-公元前221年)完成的。

Nero-was-Right

There have been atleast hundreds of tribes of different ethnicities that have arrived in the same places they did. The americas has been inhabited for 10,000s of years and every year the estimates keep going back further.

They also arrived through a variety of different routes.

You forgot to mention Leif Erickson who used old stories to navigate to america and found his own people stranded there. ~1000 ad

Zheng He used an old map and legends that china had for hundreds of years. The chinese had arrived in america and mapped it way before him. ~3000 years ago

至少有数百个不同种族的部落到达过他们曾经到达过的地方。美洲已经有人居住了一万年，每年的估计都在不断地往前追溯。他们通过各种不同的路线到达。

你忘了提列夫·埃里克森，他根据古老的故事航行到美国却发现自己的族人被困在那里。~公元1000年左右

郑和依靠的是一张古老的地图和中国流传了数百年的传说。中国人早在他之前就到达了美国，并绘制了地图。~3000年前左右

nickolassparks7296

Thanks for the information this channel is a great one very informative helps me learn more about Chinese history and culture as well as language having Chinese ancestry through my mothers side help fuel my pursuit of learning as much as I can about Chinese Culture and history and just started learning the language.

谢谢你提供的信息，非常棒，信息丰富，帮助我更多地了解中国的历史和文化，帮助我尽可能多地学习中国文化和历史，我刚刚开始学习汉语。

jemfalor

i think it's only Zhenghe and the emperor who were interested in the expedition. so technically, if nobody else bothers, no one could have kept the knowledge.

我想只有郑和和皇帝对远征感兴趣。所以从技术上讲，如果没有人坚持，没人可以保留这些知识。

worldhd1652

At that time, China indeed possessed unparalleled maritime technology. However, deep-rooted local sentiments and the arrogant 'Celestial Empire' mindset unfortunately led China to miss out on the Age of Exploration. These factors were mutually reinforcing, and in history, there are no 'what ifs.' The only thing we can do is learn from the lessons, gaze at the stars, and embark on the exploration of the next Age of Discovery.

当时的中国确实拥有无与伦比的航海技术。然而，根深蒂固的地方情绪和傲慢的“天朝”心态不幸导致中国错过了大航海时代。这些因素是相互强化的，在历史上，没有什么“如果”。我们唯一能做的就是吸取教训，凝视星空，开始探索下一个发现时代。

user-eh4jv6xw4l

The more I learn about the Chinese, the more I am amazed. Awesome video.

对中国人了解得越多，我就越惊讶。

skychaos87

Another thing to note is that Zheng He had a way bigger boat and crew than Columbus 70 years before Columbus set sail. China has set foot on many lands before Columbus did, but also did not bother to conquer like Columbus did.

另一件值得注意的事情是，在哥伦布起航70年前，郑和的船比哥伦布大得多，船员比哥伦布多得多。在哥伦布之前，中国人已经踏上了许多土地，但没有像哥伦布那样费力去征服别人。

andrewgeissinger5242

The reason Columbus is important is not because he was the first to find the western hemisphere, which he wasn't, but because his voyages ushered in an age of European exploration which dramatically changed the history of the entire world.

哥伦布之所以重要，并不是因为他是第一个发现西半球的人，其实他并不是，而是因为他的航行开启了一个欧洲大航海的时代，这个时代戏剧性地改变了整个世界的历史。

defenderoff-road

Your Thoughts on the Chinese discovering America is quite feasible, I live in Australia and we have discovered two Chinese Junks of the coast of Western Australia about 2500km apart the Junks date around 1,500 years ago, to further help solidify this the some Australia Aboriginals peoples do have Chinese DNA in them as well. so anything is possible.

中国人先发现美洲是很有可能的，我住在澳大利亚，我们在西澳大利亚海岸发现了两艘中国帆船，相距2500公里，这两艘帆船的历史可以追溯到1500年前，为了进一步巩固这一点，一些澳大利亚土著人身上也有中国的DNA。所以一切皆有可能。

sleepvark1

I celebrate thanksgiving with a traditional Chinese hot pot meal in honor of Zheng He. It somehow feels right to do so.

我以一顿传统的中国火锅来庆祝感恩节，纪念郑和，我觉得这样做是合适的。

xlbronco

The encyclopedia I had in the 60's explained how the native Americans were related to the Asian people. It claimed only 3 races in the world. Portuguese explorer Pinzon was well known in his country for discovering America not Columbus.

我有一本60年代的百科全书，解释了美洲原住民与亚洲人的关系。它声称在世界上只有3个种族。葡萄牙探险家Pinzon在他的国家因发现美洲而闻名，而不是哥伦布。

user-ml7rd9yk8z

No country will always be strong, the Chinese mind is not to plunder, but to develop themself.

没有任何国家会一直强大，中国人的思想不靠掠夺，而是发展自身。

falain5117

I like the idea that human history is more intertwined liked that and America wasn't just lost to time for 12 000 years after the last ice age.

我喜欢这样的观点，人类历史更加交织在一起，美洲在最后一个冰河时代之后的12000年里并没有被时间所遗忘。

kenarok886

The fact is 'Jung Java' is the 1st biggest wood ship in the entire world. even the China's emperror noticed it.

事实上，“Jung Java”是世界上最大的木船，就连中国的皇帝也注意到了。

user-fz3to8sf4l

It's possible some missing ships found America,but not in official record,at least,not what we know of,because the following emperor destroy all the records and want no one to  do it again,so, there's not enough prove,but Zheng he's fleet is completely capable of doing that during that time

有可能是一些失踪的船只发现了美洲，但没有官方记录，至少我们所知道的没有，因为后来的皇帝销毁了所有的记录，不想让任何人再去做一次，所以，没有足够的证据，但郑和的船队在那个时候完全有能力做到这一点。

MotherEarth573

Zheng he traded in Africa 100 years before Columbus’s grandpa even born. Chinese voyage and trade but never colonize

在哥伦布的祖父出生的100年前，郑和就在非洲进行了贸易。中国人进行航行和贸易，但从未殖民。

Earthman99999

It's very obvious the descendants of the Native Americans discovered America way before Columbus. Those People were already there when he arrived. Native Americans do look like they might share a common ancestry with Asians. So the there might be something to the "Chinese discover America theory".

很明显，美洲原住民的后裔早在哥伦布之前就发现了美洲。当他到达时，那些人已经在那里了。印第安人看起来确实像和亚洲人有共同的祖先。因此，“中国人发现美洲的理论”可能有点道理。

270yis7

Columbus never even got to the American supercontinent; he basically visited Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, thinking it was India.  Man, did he ever get lost!  

哥伦布甚至从未到达过美洲超级大陆，他去的是波多黎各和多米尼加共和国，以为那是印度。天哪，他迷路了吗?

qarljohnson4971

Tis true that Colombus gets waay too much credit, when there is much evidence that there were many visits to the New World from the Old.

Egyptians, Carthagians, Baques ,and Vikings all have left evidences of their crossings of the Atlantic.

There is much genetic evidence that Polynesians made it across the Pacific to South America multiple times. It makes sense that over the millennia, a civilization like the Chinese would have sent out various expeditions.

确实，哥伦布获得了太多的赞誉，有很多证据表明，有很多人去过新大陆。

埃及人、迦太基人、巴斯克人和维京人都留下了他们穿越大西洋的证据。

有很多基因证据表明，波利尼西亚人曾多次穿越太平洋来到南美洲。几千年来，像中国这样的文明大国会派出各种各样的探险队，这是有道理的。

yuhanzhang2882

The continents were connected in the past. There are mythical animals depicted in an old Chinese book later found in America.

大陆在过去是相连的。后来在美国发现的一本中国古书中描绘了一些神秘的动物。

huiyu6739

During the Ming Dynasty, a large number of European missionaries copied Chinese classics and passed them back to their own countries. Many European stories and classics were very similar to those in China.

明朝时期，大量欧洲传教士抄写中国经典，并将其带回自己的国家。许多欧洲的故事和经典与中国的非常相似。

james21ap1

I don't know we still keep talking about this. The reason why Columbus was given the credit is he started exchanges between the two worlds. The Chinese didn't maintain visits after their discovery of the new world.

我们还在讨论这个。哥伦布之所以受到赞誉，是因为他开启了两个世界之间的交流。中国人在发现新大陆后就不再去了。